...these races after the drivers' title has been decided always feel a bit strange but we have the potential for another interesting race tomorrow. We still haven't heard anything about Vettel's or Hamilton's penalties. Vettel is with the stewards now and it looks like it will most likely be a penalty for him. But perhaps just a fine. No word on anything involving Hamilton yet and it's been over an hour since it happened so he might get away with that one.

I'll be back tomorrow with another race liveblog around 4pm so see you then. Stay tuned to updates on this page for the qualifying report and the outcome from any stewards' decisions.

Hamilton on Sirotkin: "I don't know what he was thinking. We all know to keep a gap. It was a disrespectful move. I was trying to get out of his way and then he got to the corner and slowed up. It was kind of strange" #F1#BrazilianGP@MercedesAMGF1@WilliamsRacing

Vettel was very impatient there. Damon Hill says it shows his bad side; his impetuous nature. He was beckoned onto the scales but didn't cut his engine and then drove off in gear, which you are not supposed to do. A bit of a mess, in short.

That was a tough qualifying session. We didn't really know what to expect. Ferrari are incredibly quick this weekend. I'm just really happy to be here in Brazil. I didn't know whether or not I had the pole. The last lap wasn't so good to be honest. It's been a crazy journey with the Brazilian fans. Over the years we have really grown to adore each other.

...he will be starting on the less durable but quicker supersofts tomorrow. Vettel and Raikkonen will be on the softs. But what will Vettel's penalty be after the weighbridge incident? I cannot see him holding onto second place. If he drops down five places for it that means Ericsson will be starting fifth!

By just 0.073s ahead of Vettel. Bottas into third 0.140s behind Vettel. Verstappen and Ricciardo four tenths down each in fifth and sixth. Sauber looking the fourth quickest car here in seventh and eighth.

...and drove off under power at the weighbridge and destroyed the scales. He has been referred to the stewards. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. That's going to be a slam dunk penalty as Martin Brundle says. He was very impatient to get on and off it, drove over a cone, nearly ran over an FIA marshal, did not switch the engine off when he was instructed to, did some flappy hand signals and then drove off. Extraordinary!

This could have been very nasty. I wouldn't be surprised if Hamilton takes a penalty for that. He tried to get out of the way but was pootling around in the middle of the track before he did. Scruffy day for the champ.

Sirotkin was on a hot lap and Hamilton was on a slow lap. Hamilton feinted the wrong way to get himself out of the way but it was very, very close to a high speed incident. And he gets in the way of Raikkonen as well. He'll be called to the stewards there...

Beating both Red Bulls. What can Hamilton do in response? It's close but it's not enough...0.068s away for the Briton. Both Ferraris on their hot laps a minute or so later than everyone else on soft tyres. If it works they will be starting on the better race tyre so this could work very well...but they cannot afford any big mistakes...

It's raining, very lightly, but track conditions are still improving. It's very tight from around P13 to P17. Alonso doesn't manage to improve and stays in P18. Looks like another dire weekend for McLaren.

Raikkonen pips Hamilton by 0.012s before Verstappen trumps them all with a fine lap. Leclerc, currently, is quicker than Bottas, by the way. Nice work. Mercedes will be worried about the issue that seems to be affecting Hamilton.

Both Mercedes cars out fairly early. Raikkonen setting the very early pace in sector one as we wait for the drivers to set their first laps. A little bit of smoke coming from Hamilton's car and it's very dark towards the back end of the track...

Formula One has reached a deal to stage a race on the streets of Vietnam's capital city. The grand prix, which will take place in Hanoi, has been mooted for some time, but was officially confirmed by F1 officials on Wednesday.

As it stands, Valtteri Bottas is the only driver of the top three teams not to win a grand prix in 2018. Part of that is through bad luck and part through team orders. The other part through having a difficult second season at Mercedes, a car whose performance advantage is as small as it has been since their dominance of F1 began in 2014.

Last season he found a patch of form in the final two races in Brazil (pole and second) and Abu Dhabi (pole, win and fastest lap) after Hamilton had secured the championship in Mexico. Again he has the chance to do so this year but the odds are a little more remote following two poor races.

Bottas and Hamilton after the Russian Grand PrixCredit:
Reuters

If Hamilton finds himself leading with Bottas a close second, will Mercedes order him to move aside to let the Finn win? It would give him the victory he deserved in Russia, when he moved aside for his team-mate. That had the advantage of giving Hamilton another seven world championship points. What is the benefit this time? Some might consider Valtteri Bottas fortunate to keep his Mercedes seat for 2019, so keeping him completely happy is unlikely to be part of their thinking.

It does seem a little strange but Lewis Hamilton has never won a grand prix (in the same season) after clinching the drivers' title. Granted, he has only won the championship in advance of the final round twice before this year but that is still five races and is a slight anomaly, especially as he has had the fastest and dominant car in all those seasons.

Lewis Hamilton has never won a race in the same season after securing the drivers' titleCredit:
afp

He'll have two chances to break this unusual statistic, starting in Brazil. Given how shoddy Mercedes have looked in the past month, this run looked like it might extend to eight races.

And welcome to our coverage for qualifying for the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos. Or the Autodormo Jose Carlos Pace, as it is officially known. The drivers' title (the one that every fan cares about) has been decided but the constructors' title (the one that very few fans care about) is yet to be confirmed. Mercedes are heavy favourites for that, needing to score just 31 points in the next two races to seal it.

To do it in Brazil they need to outscore Ferrari by 20 points. A 1-2 makes that possible and even likely but any other result for them and it will be a bit more difficult, unless Ferrari run into trouble. Still, it looks like a formality, so it should either be tomorrow or two weeks Sunday that Mercedes wrap it up.

As ever, with the drivers' title decided we have to look a little deeper for sub plots as well as analysing what went wrong for the losers this season and looking towards 2019. Before that we still have the matter of qualifying to get on with. And a grand prix is still a grand prix. Valtteri Bottas will be one driver desperate to win his first grand prix of 2018. It was at Interlagos where he took pole in 2017. He didn't win, though.

Sebastian Vettel was quickest in final practice for FerrariCredit:
reuters

After three sessions of practice it looks tight at the top, as ever, with Verstappen fastest in FP1, Bottas fastest in FP2 and Vettel fastest in third and final practice. There's a chance of rain towards the end of qualifying, so that could spice things up, as they say.

Hamilton had a problem with a breather pipe becoming dislodged (from his car, obviously) in FP3, which caused some concern at his team. But Mercedes found the problem and sorted it fairly quickly, the Englishman getting back out on track soon after. I will be here for the next couple of hours with all the build-up, latest updates and reaction from qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix.